Saturday, October 13, 2012

My experience of ghost

                              My experience of ghost

Today, I have seen a ghost  It had dark face, long hands ! I was in the room and suddenly I came outside to call  since network signal is not available inside the house.
There I saw, it stood holding the window bars, was peeping inside. I was frightened. But I shouted loudly since there was no one in house. I was alone.
As soon as it saw me, it heard my shout and it disappeared. Soon, I gathered all my courage, went outside opening the door with my crutches. There it was, sitting near the gate.
I again shouted. I was unable to make out what it is. Listening to my shout also, it didnt move. Now again I was feeling scared.
After sometime, it moved. Then I figured it's long tail and style of walking. It is the monkey ! I heaved a sigh of relief and came inside.
I called my mother and said monkey was peeping inside the house. She said it is actually God Hanuman since today is saturday and she said it had come to bless me !
But i know what monkey is thinking. . The girl is also like us but only the tail is missing !

Working of a fluorescent tube

                                   Working of a fluorescent tube

We  all use tube lights or fluorescent lamp in our house. It is actually a gas discharge lamp that uses electricity to excite mercury vapor
The excited mercury atoms produce short wave ultra violet light that then causes phosphor to fluoresce , producing visible light.  A fluorescent lamp converts electrical power into useful light more efficiently than a incandescent lamp.
The fixure is because it requires a ballast to regulate the current through the lamp. Because they contain mercury, many fluorescent lamps are classified as hazardous waste.

Apsara named Tilottama

                                 Apsara named Tilottama

Tilottama is an apsara described in Hindu mythology. Tila is the Sanskrit word for sesame seed or a bit and Uttama means better or higher. Tilottama is therefore means the being whose smallest particle is the finest.
In Mahabharat,  it is described as Tilottama is created by divine architect, Vishwakarma. It is said that he created her on request of God Brahma , by taking finest particle of everything.
Long ago, there was a demon king named Nikumbh. He had 2 children named Sunda and Upasunda. They are described as inseperable siblings who shared everything between them like kingdom, bed , food . Once the brothers performed meditation so that God Brahma will grant them a boon.
The brothers asked for immortality with the God but Brahma granted them a boon that only they, themselves can hurt each other and no other. Soon, demons attacked heaven and started harassing sages and people. They had become invincible.
Soon, people prayed God against them. Brahma ordered Vishwakarma to create a beautiful woman. Thus , he created Tilottama. Brahma ordered her to seduce the demon brothers so that she can become the issue of contention between them.
Tilottama appeared infront of demons. Both demons were lured by her beauty and both of them held her right and left hand and argued her that she must become his own wife. Thus, fight started between them and it ended by the death of demons.

What are suffixes AD and BC?

                              What are suffixes  AD and BC?

We have studied in history that the years are often referred as respective year then BC or AD. For example this year can be written as 2012 AD. But what these suffixes actually refer to?
Anno Domini (AD) and Before Christ (BC) are designations used to label or number years used with the Gregorian calender. This calender era is based on the birth of Jesus , with AD counting the years after the birth of Jesus and BC, denoting the years before.
There is no year zero in this scheme, so the year AD1 starts immediately after BC1. BC countdown starts backwardly like 99 BC, 98 BC.....1 AD, 2 AD .Since 1856, the alternative abbreviations CE and BCE are sometimes used in the place of AD and BC.

Friday, October 12, 2012

Facts about ozone

                                  Facts about ozone

Ozone is also known as tri oxygen, since it has 3 oxygen atoms. Its molecular formula is O3. it is an allotrope of oxygen, that is much less stable than the di atomic oxygen (O2).
ozone is formed from the di atomic oxygen by the action of ultra violet rays on oxygen atoms and also atmospheric electrical discharges, and is present in lower concentration throughout the atmosphere. In total, ozone makes up only 0.6 parts per million of atmosphere.
In standard condition, ozone is a pale blue gas which condenses to a dark blue liquid  and finally viloent black solid. Ozone's instability compared to di atomic oxygen is such that it may decompose explosively. Hence, it is used only in lower concentration in industries.


Thursday, October 11, 2012

Some facts about teeth

                                     Some facts about teeth

An adult human normally has 32 teeth. It may not be the same number to all of them due to various reasons ! But a child dont have these many teeth.
They have teeth called milk teeth. Usually they are 20. But as children reach the age of 6-7 years, they will loose these teeth and in place of them adult teeth will come. If these teeth are lost, they can not be replaced in natural way. But there are artificial means.
I wonder what the animals do? They dont brush. But for us humans, cavities are the common problem. But now, dentists try to save the teeth by some how instead of removing them.

Wednesday, October 10, 2012

What is inside an atom of element?

                                   What is inside an atom of element?

Every element is made up of atoms. An atom of a combined element is called molecule. Inside the atom there are 3 particles ------
1. Proton
2. Neutron
3. Electron
Proton is having positive energy. Electron is having negative energy. Neutron is not having any charge , we can call it as neutral.
The centre of atom is nucleus. In nucleus , we find protons and neutrons. Electrons are not inside nucleus. They revolve around the nucleus.
The atomic number of an element is denoted by the number of electrons it is having in atom.  The weight of protons and neutrons are comparatively similar and sum is denoted by atomic number of element. The number of protons determines its chemical element and the number of neutrons, the isotope of element. The electrons are bound to nucleus by electro magnetic force.

Tuesday, October 9, 2012

Why does the grass look green?

                                 Why does the grass look green?

We know in a day, a grass looks green. the sunlight is mixure of 7 colours as we see in a rainbow. But why the grass looks green , why not other colours such as red or blue?
The colours what we see are the colours those are reflected. That means all the other colours are absorbed or kept. Grass looks green because it has chlorophyll, which absorbs blue and red light and bounces off or reflects only the green light. , giving grass a green colour. But why does the chlorophyll reflects only green light , why not other colours?
Light has energy. Chlorophyll absorbs or keeps the right light which is necessary for photosynthesis of plants. Through this, a plant can convert carbon di oxide and water to glucose and oxygen . Green is usually the leftover light that is not absorbed and is then reflected, making us see the grass green.

Monday, October 8, 2012

Why does cavities appear mostly in molar teeth?

                                Why does cavities appear mostly in molar teeth?

We all suffer from dental cavities. Though cavities may form in any teeth, but it is predominantly formed in molar and pre molar teeth.
In our mouth we have 3 different types of teeth . Out of them, molar teeth are the teeth which are used to grind the food we have taken inside the mouth.
Naturally, these teeth have work more than any other teeth. Food has to be there near the molar teeth for longer time . And when it is not properly washed or cleaned, germs will prosper in these teeth on remaining food particles.
Thus, creating cavity. Hence always molar teeth are the easy target for cavities to form

Why is the sky blue?

                                         Why is the sky blue?

The light we get from Sun during day is a mixure of 7 colours namely violet. indigo, blue, green, yellow, orange and red. A clear cloudless day time sky is blue because molecules in the air scatter blue light from the Sun more than red light.
But when we look towards the Sun at sunset, we see red and orange colours because blue light has been scattered out and away from the line of sight. The colour red is having greater wavelength compared to violet. The retina of human eye responds most strongly to red, green and blue wavelenghs. Thus, in traffic signals also we use red and green signals for stop and start.

Sunday, October 7, 2012

Carbon di oxide

                                     Carbon di oxide

Carbon di oxide will not allow heat to pass through it, thus become hazardous to living creatures. Green house effect will arise and proportion of oxygen become less and with the excess amount of heat, it is difficult to survive for living creatures.
In planet Venus too, same condition occurs. There because of large amount of carbon di oxide, it has formed  a  layer over its surface. This layer allows sunrays inside but will not allow them to go out. Because of this, temperature on Venus is very much high.
People are feeling scared of this phenomena may repeat on Earth too all because of air pollution. Thus carbon di oxide eventhough it is not toxic, will create the phenomena of green house in large amounts. But in Venus, from where this CO2 have come?
According to my theory, Venus must be having Volcanoes. When a volcano erupts, large amount of CO2 gets added to atmosphere. This is a natural phenomena. But in our Earth, we are making CO2 to exceed its limit all by our folly.

The carbon

                                                       The carbon        

Carbon is having both good as well as bad qualities. Carbon is having purifying and cleaning qualities. When we burn something, it will finally reduce into ash. This means each and every substance is made of carbon. We get ash easily by burning fossil fuels. My grandma was using this ash to wash the utensils. She said by this, they will be clean. People who cant afford to buy dish washing powder, still use this method.
Carbon also has purifying property. We have water purifier in the house. In that machine, to purify the water , water is first passed through blocks containing carbon. With this, the visible impurities will surely vanish thus we get pure water.

Carbon di oxide (CO2) is the gas which is now in news. Even it has both good and bad qualities.  I*n the films, we see actor and actresses  dancing amidst the white fog. Now how this fog comes? It is not the natural one. This is happened because of dry ice which is crystallised CO2.

When this CO2 is passed through water, we get soda which quenches our thirst during summer. Most of the soft drinks have adopted this technique.




Saturday, October 6, 2012

Why does a fan make sound when operated on inverter?

                      Why does a fan make sound when operated on inverter?

This question always haunted me. Nowadays, loadshedding has been put in our area. We have inverter in the house. When the power goes, Inverter will get switched on.
We can put lights  and fans with inverter running. But I observed when power is there, and when I switch on fan it runs smoothly. But when it is operated on inverter , it gives the sound. When the power is back, sound disappears. According to my knowledge, the reason is like this:
Inverter when it is charging i.e. when supply is there converts AC to DC and stores power. When the supply goes, it recharges the power. Now the interesting thing happens.
Inverter converts its stored power which is in DC to AC means now it acts like sine wave generator. Supply is always having pure sine wave at 50 Hz.
But a modified sine wave looks more squared than round. In real life, the modified sine wave are less powerful and the signal does not look as "perfect"as we get in our labs.Because of this, sharp edge arises in modified so called sine wave which are responsible for noise component.
modified sine wave has much more frequency content compared to a pure sine wave. Thus, we have a noise coming from a fan operated on inverter.

Friday, October 5, 2012

Facts about teeth

                           Facts about teeth

We all have teeth ! natural or artificial. A healthy man has 32 teeth in mouth . It varies for individuals. Wisdom teeth gives late entry to our mouth . It comes at the age of 18. But there is no connection between this teeth and wisdom. I have only 2 according to dentist. Maximum limit is 4.
Teeth are usually hard, the hard part is called Enamel. Common problem a man faces is tooth cavity. The cavity is formed because of the  acids formed by bacteria on residual food particles stuck between gaps of teeth.
Now, with forming of cavity tooth ache will not come. Moreover, we will not come to know about formation of cavity. But when the cavity grows deeper and reaches root of tooth, then pan starts. At that time, we will remember we have teeth.
It is  advised to brush the teeth after eating anything to get rid of residual particles of food.

Thursday, October 4, 2012

The atmosphere

                                  The atmosphere

Atmosphere is the one where we find essential gases like oxygen . The atmosphere is held in its position above the ground level by gravitational force of planet Earth. If this force is not there, then it would be difficult to find these gases in a single place.
The gas which is the main source of food is carbon di oxide (CO 2). It is very surprising to know that this gas is mainly responsible for the existence of food chains . The isotope of oxygen which is known as ozone (O3) is also present in atmoshere.
Ozone layer is the one which is protecting us from mutations of genes which may occur by over explosure to IR rays of Sun. As we move to higher altitude, we feel difficult to breathe because atmosphere gets thinner .There is an isotope of CO2 too.
It is diamond. When CO2 gas gets compressed in high pressure, it gets convert into diamond, which is a precious stone.

The middle era India

                                         The middle era India

The middle era India was very vast.  The northern part of India entirely ruled by King Harshavardhan . He was a good administrator also. In the northern part of India, his kingdom had river Narmada as the boundary. Because of the proportion of his kingdom, he is also called as Uttarapatheshwar.
King Harshavardhan died in the year 647 AD. But after him, there is no capable king like him to rule India and country was an easy target to external forces. In the time of Harshavardhan, the southern India was ruled by Immadi Pulikeshi . He had the name Dakshinapatheshwar. The name came because he was ruling the entire southern India.

Wednesday, October 3, 2012

A Tulu proverb

                                  A Tulu proverb

Proverbs are plenty in Tulu and here is one ----------

ಪೂ  à²•à²Ÿ್ಟಿನ  à²¬à²²್ಲ್ ಡ್  à²Žà²°ು ಕಟ್ಟಿಲೆಕ  

This proverb signifies the importance of choosing correctly.
Poo = flower
Kattina  balld= Flowers used to make garland by means of rope
eru= bull
kattileka = bull tied by a rope

Meaning : The rope which is used to make flower garland can not be used to tie the bull. Both are ropes. But to make garlands, we use a delicate rope made of banana plant  or thread. But to tie a bull, we need a rope which is stronger.
This rope must be capable of restricting uneasy movements of bull too. For both purpose, we use rope but of different variety.
This proverb stresses the importance of choosing a correct option in doing things.

Working of pressure cooker

                                 Working of pressure cooker

Pressure cooker is very essential in our day to day life. Working of pressure cooker based on converting water into steam and cooking food in steam.
Before putting food items to be cooked in pressure cooker , we put some amount of water. This water on heating, will get convert into steam.
We have a weight on the top of cooker. It covers the path through which steam will go out. But as the pressure of steam inside cooker is more, the steam will try to pass out . The only path it has to lift the weight and make itself free to go outside.
In the process of lifting the weight it makes noise through the hole. It will pass out and as the pressure decreases inside , weight will come to its original position.
When again the pressure of steam builds up inside, steam will again find its way to pass out by lifting the weight. In this process, food items kept inside the cooker will get cooked up.
But as we switch off the gas  and uncover cooker , there will be water inside. In the beginning what we put water will surely get converts into steam. But when steam gets cooler it will come back to its original form, water. Thus we find water inside cooker after the work done.

Significance of mica in our daily life

                                  Significance of mica in our daily life

Mica is a naturally occuring compound. Mica is called ಕಾಗೆ  à²¬ಂಗಾರ  or ಅಭ್ರಕ  in Kannada. It is a very brittle  substance that if we just hold it little tight, it will break into pieces. Mica is having glowing characteristics. But it is non  toxic.
In our daily life, we use mica frequently. When we do ironing to our clothes, the bottom surface of the instrument is coated with mica.
Iron box is having coils inside it. These coils will get heated up when we pass electricity through it. But we needed a substance which can conduct heat through it but not electricity.
Just think of other metal coating for the bottom surface. We know that metals are good conductors of heat but they will also pass electricity through them.
We needed a substance which can only conduct heat through it and not electricity. Mica is that required substance. It is a good conductor of heat but it will not pass electricity through it.
If there is any other metal instead of mica , we dare not to touch iron box as we get free dose of current shock too !

Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Some interesting facts about frogs

                             Some interesting facts about frogs

Frogs have teeth. They have both upper jaw and lower jaw. But when they catch their pray, to eat that they just swallow it. They dont use their teeth.
Now what is the use of jaws and teeth? Frogs are using them to catch the pray in their mouth firmly.Now it is very interesting to know how they catch their pray. They have a very good eye sight. When some pray has come near it, it is impossible for it to run away.
There are many types of frogs . Specially they were seen in rain forests. There is a special type of frog. Speciality is there , instead of just jumping from one place to other,as all the frogs do, they can walk ! The speciality not ends here itself.
They have special type of skin around their legs. They use these as parachutes like we humans use. They live on trees. These are handy to them.

Monday, October 1, 2012

Interesting facts about travel to moon

                                      Interesting facts about travel to moon

Many countries have travelled to moon. United states of America is the first nation to send man (alive)to moon. He was Neil Armstrong who died recently.
Even our country, India has joined this group by doing Chandrayaan.  All the travels to moon aimed at knowing the atmosphere of moon . Even in Chandrayaan, we have been successful in finding the traces of water on moon.
The next phase of  Chandra Yaan is scheduled next year i.e. 2013
The first aircraft which was sent to moon was Luna - 2. But it was unmanned and it was collided to the surface of moon during the landing.
The other series of Luna aircraft brought samples of mud and stone of moon with them to Earth for examination. The aircraft which was sent to moon carrying man is Apollo- 11.